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“Sure, I can, but I’m enjoying the view from back here.” My gaze dipped to her ass, which looked superb in shorts.
Her giggle danced around me, adding something extra to the relaxing scenery. “Perv.”
I shrugged and gave her a sheepish smile. “Hey, how much further are we going? You really shouldn’t pressure your ankle too much.”
After three days in Charlotte’s company, I discovered that the woman was as stubborn as a mule. She was also fearless, independent, and… I fixated on her ass again and then her long legs… and everything came together in a hot-as-fuck package.
“Relax, Jamie. We’re here.”
I came up beside her and stopped. “Wow…”
We looked down at a deep blue pool surrounded by lush greenery combined with the vibrant hues of tropical flora. The pool was fed by a waterfall that cascaded down an outcrop. Towering trees stretched above, creating a canopy that lessened the intensity of the sun.
“I know, right?” Charlotte smiled as she gazed at the scenery that was so beautiful it looked like a flawless painting. “Did you think the cabins are the only reason my coworkers and I steal away up here? This is what we really love.”
I nodded. “It beats the jacuzzis at the resorts by far.”
She beamed. “I knew you’d appreciate this. I was thinking we could take a dip.”
“Let’s do it.”
I shifted the bag I’d taken from her when we left the cabin, bent at the knees, and scooped her up.
She gasped when she found herself draped over my shoulder. “Jamie, what…?”
“You are not walking on the uneven ground with that ankle,” I said as I took cautious steps around rocks and thick foliage.
With a resigned sigh, she relaxed. “I think you just want an excuse to touch my ass.”
My arm tightened around said area and I grinned. “I might have ulterior motives…”
She snickered.
“Still, I don’t want you pressuring your ankle.”
“And you always get what you want in your world, I take it?”
“I tend to.”
She laughed. “Without the manhandling, I hope.”
“Charlotte, you are the only person I’ve ever wanted to manhandle and the second I get you beside that pool, I’m going to manhandle you some more.”
She squirmed on my shoulder and let out a soft moan that made me smile harder.
21
CHARLOTTE
“You seem different today,” I observed, gazing at Jamie sitting at the pool’s edge.
We had brunch—more canned goods, which Jamie hated—about an hour ago and we talked and got to know each other better. A few intimate conversations weren’t enough, but I still got a better picture of who James Winchester was.
He was a man driven by loyalty and a need to compensate for something that was hardly his fault. The insight I got into his childhood made me dislike his father, a man I’d never even laid eyes on. What sane parent inflicted such psychological trauma on their child?
“It’s a new day,” he said, looking up at the canopied trees.
I smiled because I knew what he meant. Jamie had a new goal in life, to live for himself—he’d said as much. I was happy for him. He deserved to be content in his life because he was a good man. Underneath that somber, stoic armor was a heart of gold. He tortured himself when he felt like he’d hurt someone. I knew he tortured himself over the Lincoln situation, and I felt bad.
